Kurtis Roberts ruled out of Welkom

Kurtis Roberts ruled out of Welkom

Kurtis Roberts will not be taking part in the betandwin.com Africa's Grand Prix this weekend after leaving the circuit on Friday morning complaining of discomfort in the shoulder he dislocated at Valencia during preseason tests. The American rookie, son of former triple-World Champion Kenny Roberts, revealed after the first free practice session that he did not feel the shoulder had recovered sufficiently to deal with Welkom's quick direction changes and bumpy surface and has headed home to California to continue his physical training programme.

"This circuit demands that you get into certain positions on the bike that put a lot of strain on the shoulder," explained Roberts. "The angle of the joint combined with the bumps made my shoulder feel very vulnerable and I was concerned it might pop out again. I spoke with my dad and my physio and we decided that the best thing was to go home and build up my strength.
"I'm disappointed to be leaving so early but on one hand it was well worth coming out here because the only way I was going to find out what stage my recovery is at was by riding the bike.
"You can't tell by riding a streetbike or motocross because a 990cc V5 Grand Prix bike is completely different. Now I know what I need to do to get back to 100% fitness and I'll be working hard to do that before the next race in Jerez".